Can You Be My Mockingjay?
by HuskyWolfHybrid
Summary: Katniss can't sleep and she needs to talk to someone that will understand. (Inspired by Nightingale by Demi Lovato. Song not included, alternate summary inside.)


**Story and title inspired by the beautiful and talented Demi Lovato, from her song Nightingale. The title, of course, had been edited to fit The Hunger Games and Katniss' Mockingjay. (DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN NIGHTINGALE NOR THE HUNGER GAMES! IF I OWNED NIGHTINGALE, DEMI AND I WOULD BE BEST FRIENDS! AND IF I OWNED THE HUNGER GAMES, LITTLE RUE AND PRIM WOULD HAVE LIVED!)**

**Summary: Can you be my Mockingjay? Sing to me, I know you're there...**

**...**

She's back in the woods. Those woods. Where, even in the enclosed area, she was still being watched. No, these weren't woods. This was an arena, a hologram, a fake sense of reality. She's not alone. No. No, there are others. They're not friends. Killers. Enemies. Once normal people trapped in a madhouse, bent on causing destruction and doing whatever it took to win. Murderers, once normal people now programmed drones bent on killing for other people's entertainment. Dear God, what she wouldn't do to escape. She wasn't one of them, she didn't want to kill. But what could she tell to the viewers, her mentor, what little sponsors she had? Her sister, mother, best friend. They were counting on her to come home. _Praying, depending _on her to overcome this damned challenge...even if that meant stepping on a few toes to do so. But she couldn't, she simply couldn't-

"Katniss!"

That shriek, she knows it. She hopes to God that it's not what she thinks. "Rue!" she calls back hoarsely. She stands and races through the forest, ducking and grazing tree branches and rocks. The cry comes again, like a sob this time, "Katniss!"

Katniss trips over a tree log before she can jump in time and she tumbles into the open grass, the wind getting knocked out of her. She coughs violently, staggering unsteadily to her feet. Her vision is blurry, but she can just make out Little Rue trapped in a net hanging by a tree. "Rue, hang on!"

She reaches behind her for her bow and an arrow, but there's nothing there. Panic stricken now, Katniss fumbles through her satchel. Empty. She looks up, but Rue's attention is no longer on her. It's toward the woods. She warily follows her gaze and sees another tribute, armed with a knife and aimed... at her. He raises his arm...

"Katniss, look out!" Rue cries. But it's too late.

Katniss collapses to the ground withering in pain, her hands encircled around the wound and the weapon sticking out of it. Blood stains her top and drops to the ground beneath her. She gasps for breath, pain taking over every last nerve in her body.

"No!" The dark skinned girl sobs from her trap. "Please, Katniss, get up! "

The female Archer locks gazes with Rue, her vision fading in and out. "Rue..." she mouths. Her eyes close, and she's gone. A cannon goes off in the distance.

**...**

Katniss screams out, sitting up in her bed. Darkness surrounds her, the light of the moon peeking past her half drawn curtains and her hand immediately flies to her chest, searching for a knife. She removes the clothing that covers her chest and sighs with relief. Nothing but smooth, scar-free skin. She falls back on her pillow, tears threatening to escape. She should have expected a restless sleep, things haven't been the same for her or anyone around her since the Hunger Games. Yes, she survived but she struggled to survive the night. She'd imagine herself waking back up in the arena, half dead. Katniss often wondered if being a victor was worth all the pain and torment from her past and if she'd be better off dead. Dreaming of Rue, her constant escapes from death, trying to keep her... partner... alive. Funny how a girl who could take on wild animals with just a bow and a few arrows couldn't handle nightmares. She almost laughed at herself.

Suddenly needing some fresh air, Katniss silently creeps out of her bed and slips into her slippers. She opens her door without a sound and steps out. Trekking quietly by her mother's and her sister's door, she makes it outside. She takes in a deep breath and sighs. She hears a rustle coming from the bushes nearby and her head snaps up. "Who's there?"

Her whisper is met with a tired "Meow." Prim's cat, Buttercup, strolls out from the bushes and Katniss rolls her eyes. "Beat it, Fuzball." she practically growls. The cat yawns and walks away into the night.

Katniss feels so vulnerable out here, like President Snow is watching her every move, anticipating what she'll do next so he can send in troops from the Capital and drag her away to be tortured. She shudders. There's only one person who can understand what she's going through. Peeta Mellark. She decides to head to his home.

**...**

Peeta wakes at the sound of a knock on his front door. Yawning, he goes to open it. "Katniss? What are you doing here?"

"Hi, Peeta." Katniss says. "Can I come in?"

"Oh, yeah, come in." Peeta replies, opening the door wider.

Katniss enters Peeta's house and he shuts the door behind them. "What brings you over?"

She shrugs , keeping her gaze down. She stares at her feet. "Couldn't sleep."

"Nightmares?"

"Yeah."

Peeta gestures to his couch by the window and Katniss takes a seat. He disappears briefly into his kitchen and there's the sound of glasses clinking and water running. He returns with two glasses of water and hands one of them to Katniss.

"Thanks." she says, taking the water.

"No problem." Peeta says and sits next to her. "Now, do you want to talk about it?"

"Not really." Katniss admits.

"Okay." Peeta answers.

The two sit in silence for a while, not speaking. Katniss stares into her water, letting her mind drift. _Maybe I should talk about it..._She thinks, biting her lip. After all, Peeta was with her through Hell and back, he'd know what it was like. When they were in the cave, she would hear him mutter in his sleep. She'd listen to him sometimes, trying to make sense of his nonsense unconscious talking.

"How...how do you deal with it?" she asks hesitantly.

Peeta looks at her after sipping his water. "I don't." Katniss gives him a quizzical look and he smiles lightly. "I mean, I don't try to deal with it because I can't."

"Why can't you?"

Peeta doesn't answer. Instead, he stands up and nods his head towards a hallway. "C'mon. I wanna show you something."

Katniss places her glass on the table and follows Peeta down the hall to a room in the far back. He flicks the light on, revealing canvas' covered with paintings. One was of little Rue after Katniss had concealed her with when she was hit with that arrow. A knot in her stomach appears and makes her feel nauseous. The next one was one of their many nights spent in the cave. It was of the night they spent together in the sleeping bag.

"I paint all my memories and dreams." Peeta says, looking around at his work. "Not a very good coping skill, but it helps a little."

"Are you kidding, Peeta?" Katniss says. "These are amazing! At least you have some sort of coping skill, I have no artistic bone in my body."

"Oh, come on, Kat." Peeta says in a slightly teasing tone.

Katniss shakes her head and sighs. Her eyes catch the painting of Rue again. "I was in the woods." she begins. "I heard Rue screaming for me and I tried to reach her. She was in the net in the tree. I couldn't find my bow, there was another tribute in the trees and he had a knife. He aimed it at me and..."

Peeta's eyes widen and he places his arm around her shoulder. Unintentionally, Katniss lays her head on his shoulder and begins to sob. "I was so scared, Peeta!" she says. "It all felt so real!"

"Shhh, it's okay Katniss." Peeta soothes her. "No one is invincible, we all get afraid sometimes. The Hunger Games are to ensure that we stay afraid of the Capital, that we fear them. All they want to do is weaken us."

"I know, but it's weakened me more than ever." Katniss responds, wiping her eyes. "Look at all the tributes that lie dead because of me!"

"The deaths of those tributes is not your fault!" Peeta tells her.

"But-"

Peeta puts a finger to Katniss' lips and she falls silent. "Would we be here if it wasn't for your creative thinking? Would_ I_ be here of you hadn't snuck of to the buffet for the antidote?"

Katniss shakes her head. "I see your point."

Peeta hugs Katniss and she gratefully accepts it. "Peeta, can I spend the night here?"

"'Course you can, Kat." Peeta says.

Peeta leads her to his guest room and turns on the light. "You can sleep here."

"Thank you, Peeta." Katniss says, taking in the patterns of the blanket.

"No problem." Peeta smiles. "Goodnight."

"'Night."

Peeta leaves Katniss alone and she gazes out the window. She can just barely make out the figure of a bird on the tree outside. She whistles a low tune and listens for it to repeat it.

_I guess I've found my Mockingjay._Katniss thinks.

She pulls back the covers of the bed and slides under them. Sleep soon takes her. This time, there are no nightmares.

**...**

**What did you think? Believe it or not, this story took me almost a whole month to write. I hope it was with it :D! R&R!**


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